A Gift

Sarah Moon motif Needleminder

GAST Limited Edition Aquamarine over one on 28ct Sugar Cookie

Mill Hill Beads #03007 for beaded ruffle

Finished 7/24/07

I've received word that Carol received the birthday gifts I sent her. I stitched this needleminder for her, using the same finishing technique I used for my Flower of Courage. I chose to stitch a motif from the Sarah Moon sampler, because Carol loves Ackworth School samplers. I am so pleased she likes it. Happy Birthday, Carol!





It was a good, but busy weekend. I was able to get to the halfway point on Their Song, which is where I wanted to be by the end of last week. I was even able to get a bit farther yesterday. We finished watching Season 2 of Dark Angel, and now we've starting watching Season 1 of JAG, which is one of Eric's favorite shows. Anyway, one of my goals for this month was to finish Their Song. I don't know that I'm going to make it, since I won't be stitching tonight. Oh well, I've made good progress on it, which I am really glad for. I would really like to finish a larger project. The only piece over a small-size that I've finished this year is my Lemon Meringue Sampler. So, it's about time to get something off my WIP list. Once I finish up Their Song, I plan to get back to Baby Garden so that I can finish it up. Wouldn't that be nice?

I've also had to send back the fabric that I got for the newest Loose Feathers - it was terrible. So, I'll be exchanging it for a piece that looks a little better, I hope!


Hope you all had a great weekend!


I am grateful for the realization of which choice to make.

Finished!

In a Stable

Shepherds Bush from JCS Ornament Issue 2004

Weeks and GAST on 32ct Dark Espresso linen from R&R

Embellished with Sterling Silver Star charm

Finished 7/26/07

I finished reading Harry Potter this morning. All I will say is Wow. Now, on to other things as there will be no spoilers here. I also finished another of the Shepherd's Bush ornaments yesterday. That makes five out of the seven already released. I am anticipating that the one in this year's JCS Ornament issue is the last one. I hope I'm right on that because I only have eight pieces of fabric.

Teejay tagged me for a five things meme...

Five things I want to do before I die -

1. Have children

2. Buy a house

3. Go and see Egypt

4. Continue my education

5. Travel the world with Eric

I won't tag anyone, but if you'd like to answer this, please do.

And finally, some yarn stash arrived. The Bee Fields Shawl chart and the Tupelo Gold laceweight yarn for it, chart for the Seraphim Shawl (which I have a very special plan for) and Zephyr laceweight yarn for Mystery Stole 3 in Vanilla. You'd think I knew how to knit lace... you'd be wrong!

I am halting all stash enhancement for a little while, as we have our trip to Pennsylvania for his cousin's wedding coming up soon, as well as Eric is taking me to New York in December. I am so excited. I've never been to New York, and he wanted me to be able to see the tree in Rockefeller Center, etc.

I'll have an update of Their Song soon. I am doing well on working my way towards the halfway mark, which was my goal for this week. My other goal for this week was to get the border on Liguria done. I think I should be able to do that as well. So, photos to follow!

Walk to Rivendell: Reach area of the Marish with fields, meadows, hedges, gates, and drainage dikes. (Total Miles Walked: 59.25)

I am grateful for Harry Potter.

Flower of Courage

Flower of Courage

Wild Heart Designs

Esmerelda's Friends Piece from December 2005

NPI on 32ct R&R Awareness Pink Linen

Beaded ruffle with gold beads

Finished into a needleminder

Stitching done 6/19/06

Finishing done 7/24/07

I finally did the finishing on this piece. This is my second piece to stitch from the Esmerelda's Friends pieces from Elegant Stitch. I stitched this up super quick in June of last year. I am just now getting around to the finishing, and I have no idea why it took me so long to do it. As with the previous piece, In the Pink, the finishing was really not as bad as I was imagining it would be. This has been finished into a needleminder. I think it's a really cute piece, and I am so pleased with how it came out. I tell you, though, the whole time I was doing the finishing on it I felt like I was holding a French macaron.





Here's the back. Love the polka dot fabric. The loose magnet sits on the back of the piece, but I removed it for the photo so you could see the fabric.




And here's a closeup of the ruffled beaded edging. I think I'll definitely be making more of these in the future.


Thanks for all the compliments on Veneto. I have made a start on Liguria and hope to finish the border on it this week. I've also been stitching along on Their Song. I also hope to get that bottom right hand corner finished this week. I'll post a progress photo soon.


I'm behind on my blog reading, because in between doing the finishing on this piece, I've been reading Harry Potter and working on a gift. I hope to get caught back up soon. I also have a couple other things I need to get back on track with - namely my Walk to Rivendell. I hope to have an update on that this week. I've been slacking off.

I am greatful for being honest with myself and making new choices.

Veneto

Yesterday I finished stitching my first block on Tesori d'Italia. This is for the Veneto region. The motifs are View of Venice, Carnival of Venice, Gondolier, Romeo and Juliet, Winged Lion and the Chessboard of Marostica. I love how this is turning out, although I am going to have to stitch these up much faster if I want to get all of them done before our anniversary. Next up is Liguria.

I also was able to cross number 27 off my 101 Things in 1001 Days list, "Frame Bahamas Maps". The custom mat I ordered for the maps finally was done right, and I picked it up yesterday and popped everything into a frame! It looks great, and I am so pleased to have them framed. Eric and I bought them on our cruise to the Bahamas, where he proposed.

Saturday was spent dress shopping. I was in dire need of a dress to wear to his cousin's wedding in August. I found a gorgeous black cocktail dress, which will be perfect and a red and white sundress (which I have always wanted) to wear on Friday night before the wedding. Saturday night when we got home, my copy of the new Harry Potter was waiting for me, so I settled in to read that night. Aside from Harry, the rest of my mail this weekend was fantastic too!

I received my Silkweaver Fabric of the Month, my Stitching Bits & Bobs order, which included thread for my next Shepherds Bush ornament, and finally my next Block of the Month for the Leanne's House quilt. So happy with everything!

I'm so excited to be finished with Veneto, and I am really happy with my color scheme (thanks Mia!). I did outline three of the hearts with gold, it is just a touch of sparkle, but not too much. Love it!

I am grateful for two new dresses!

Summer Spell

Summer Spell

Just Nan Limited Edition WhimZi

Second in a series of four

DMC on 28ct Graziano Lt. Rose Milan Linen

Framed in a Rose WhimZi frame

Finished 7/18/07

I finished up the latest Just Nan Limited Edition WhimZi yesterday, and put it into its frame last night. This one is so hard to get a picture of for some reason. I guess it's the shiny gold on the frame? I must have taken 20 pictures, and this was the best of the bunch. Anyway, I started this one right after Fourth of July, but had totally put the bottom M in the wrong place, so I had to rip out the whole letter and restitch. But, I got back to it yesterday and finished it. I'm a little curious to see if Nan will use "Autumn" or "Fall" for the next one. The next WhimZi I have planned to stitch is Frost Flower. I am still working on getting caught back up with all these Limited Edition pieces I have sitting around. I think I have Frost Flower, Cherub Garden, Tie One On, Horrified and Snow Faces (which actually wasn't a Limited Edition). I'm shooting for one a month along with one of my Shepherds Bush ornaments.

Yesterday the mail brought me my chart from the Sampler Girl that I won for stitching Hedwig's Four Patch. I love mermaids, as you well know, so this was a perfect chart to receive. The quote is by Tennyson. Thank you Tanya!!

I am grateful for finishes!

Cherries

I finished up the branch of cherries last night. I just love the cherries, the way they look with the Red Rocks and Aztec Red threads. Love them. Last night was a lovely relaxing night, which we both needed. Eric had had a really bad day. So, we watched a couple of episodes of Dark Angel after dinner and just relaxed. I finished up the cherry stems right at ten o'clock which is when I stop stitching at night.

And speaking of Blackbird Designs, have you seen the new Loose Feathers? I love this one. It may be the next one I stitch. I'm on automatics for these, so I should be getting mine soon I hope!

I've put a few stitches into my Barnabee's Quest the past few morning too. I am still working on the over one portion in Part 2, violets I think they are. Strangely enough, the spot I got stuck on in Baby Garden was also the over one portion. I'll post a photo when I finish the band I'm working on. Guess I should get back to stitching on Baby Garden too soon.

I saw the new Little House Needleworks new releases yesterday, and I just love this one. I feel another stash buying expedition coming on.

I am grateful for Jim Dale.

Crazy Daisies

Eric brought me these colorful daisies yesterday "just because it's Sunday". We had another busy weekend. On Saturday, we went to the horse races again, and really enjoyed ourselves. We each bet on one race, but neither of us won. Although I made a lot of imaginary money on my virtual bets. LOL! Yesterday my sister and my neice came over for a visit. They were in town for a couple of days, and it was so nice to have them over for the afternoon.

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my Neighborhood RR. I am so looking forward to receiving my first piece to stitch on. Last night, I was able to sit down and do a bit of stitching.

I made some more progress on Their Song. The whole left corner is now finished and next time I'll probably work on finishing the branch with the cherries. I love how those cherries look, even though I only have one finished.

We are having an issue with our property management company (we rent our house). Friday night, Eric got home and was locked out of the house as someone had locked the keyless deadbolt on the door from the garage to the house. He was able to get in through the front door, but it became evident that someone had been in our house - obviously someone from our property management company. It doesn't appear that anything was done in the house, but there was no note indicating they had been there or what they had done. In fact, they hadn't forewarned us that they were going to be coming into the house. The cats were freaked. I mean, they were hiding under the bed when Eric got home. It is also evident that whoever was there went out to the backyard and then came back in, because over the last two days, everytime you open that door, Romeo races upstairs and hides under the bed. Eric finally got someone on the phone today (after numerous phone calls that were not returned). They say no one was in the house, and they won't do anything about changing the locks or anything. Ugh! It just makes me feel so anxious about leaving the house, since people apparently are wandering in and out at their leisure. We are going to be making some phone calls to see what we can do about the situation. Our lease is up in March, and we are planning to buy a house when we move from this one. I really hope that something can be done about this, so that it doesn't happen again. Unfortunately, this management company have been less than cooperative on previous issues (eg the tree that was uprooted). I'll let you know what develops.

I am grateful for a fun visit with my sister.

My Neighborhood RR

My Neighborhood RR Block

Modified from Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Carriage House Samplings

DMC and Weeks on 36ct Meadow Rue (Lakeside Linens)

Finished 7/12/07

The day has finally come! I have finished up my Neighborhood RR and I'm ready for mailing today. I decided that I wanted a Halloween/Autumn theme for my neighborhood, and so chose to stitch the cemetery block from Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I modified the block somewhat, I eliminated the black background, changed my bats to black and moved them around a little bit, I eliminated the stars and the moon and I moved my tree to the opposite side. Some of the tombstones and ground had to go because of the size of my blocks (70 x 70). I am very pleased with it, and am excited to see what everyone stitches on my piece.

This photo makes it hard for you to get an real look at my layout, but maybe you can get the general idea. The black backstitched line will be a road that will wind through my neighborhood. I have placed the other eight blocks throughout the piece along the road. I also left some room up at the top in order to add a quote or a title of some kind once I see how the whole thing shapes up. I also plan to add some other things around the house blocks, like a pumpkin patch, maybe some trees, etc. I am really looking forward to seeing how this will turn out. This is my second RR to participate in, and I am trying to be more creative this time, now that I have a little experience. It's a big piece of fabric, but I hope that no one curses me for using it.

Now, back to stitching on Their Song until my first RR shows up to stitch on.

I am grateful for going to the Post Office.

Actual Stitching Content

I've been stitching along on Tesori, and trying to finish up the first block. It is going slower than I would like, but again, I am stitching this in secret (away from Eric), so the time I have to work on it isn't much. It's coming along though! I've also, of course, been stitching away on my Neighborhood RR. Tonight I will put my name on it, and be finished with my portion of it, so that I should be able to mail out tomorrow. Hurrah! I'll be glad to be finished with that. I'm very curious to see what the first one I receive is going to be.

I received my order from One Star's Light, and Jenna really does do a beautiful job with packaging. I love the little wax seal. I have some 17" q-snaps to use for Tesori now, and a thread winder. I've been wanting a thread winder for a long time. I may use it on Tesori also, as I am primarily using red thread.

I've also managed a few minutes here and there on my knitting. I restarted this on the 4th, while we were waiting for fireworks. So, here is my progress on my Homespun Wrap - I'm basically just making a big rectangle for a wrap that I can use at work when they decide to make it freezing in there over the summer. I like the color changes it in, and it makes for a fun project. Sorry the photo's a little dark. I am practicing my purling, which I am so much slower at than straight knitting. I've put a garter stitch border on it too, so that edges don't roll. I've been watching everyone's progress on the Mystery Stole too. I've signed up, so that I'll have the pattern for whenever I decide I'm brave enough to try my hand at knitting lace. Part of me keeps thinking that it's just knits, purls, yarn overs, increases and decreases, so surely I could do that. That may be the part of me that keeps dreaming about it. Or it could be the 800 or so emails in my inbox each day that's causing me to dream about it at night!

Anyway, I should be posting photos of my Neighborhood RR tomorrow, before it heads off on its adventure. Stay tuned!

I am grateful for knitting.

Three Years

On Sunday, Eric and I celebrated three years since our first date. Can you believe it?? He brought me roses and we had a glass of champagne to mark the occasion. It was a nice weekend, and I think we got a lot done.

For example, I was finally able to frame my finished Lemon Meringue Sampler. I had to special order the mat, in order to get the right color, but the frame was a ready-made frame off the shelf. This is now hanging in my kitchen, where I've been wanting to see it all along! Hurrah! The mat for my maps though is being reordered a third time, so I am still waiting on a correct mat to be cut. Oh well, that will be a quick and easy framing job once the mat is done.

I will be spending a few nights this week finishing up my Neighborhood RR so that I can mail it out soon. I am hoping to be able to mail it Friday, rather than Monday. I've been stitching like mad on it. I apologize that I am so far behind on blog reading, I have a huge amount of posts to read, and obviously, I am also not keeping up on regular postings to my blog either. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things with that. Here's a photo of Romeo from Sunday, in a typical pose.

Hope you're all having a fabulous week!

I am grateful for three years of wonderful.

Hedwig's Four Patch

Hedwig's Four Patch

Freebie from The Sampler Girl

Weeks and GAST on 28ct Boo! from Silkweaver

Finished 7/7/07

Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend. It actually didn't rain today, and the sun was out, which was glorious. Yesterday I saw that Tanya, The Sampler Girl, had posted a new freebie on her site called Hedwig's Four Patch. I decided to take a break from my RR block and stitch this up. Tanya's chart tells you which colors to put where, but you choose the threads. I used GAST Maple Syrup, Fragrant Cloves, Hyacinth and Summer Meadow as well as Weeks Onyx, Deep Sea and Whitewash. Tanya had charted Hedwig as brown, but I changed her to be white. Tanya was also rewarding the first seven stitchers to stitch this and send her a photo, with one of her charts. Amazingly, I turned out to be the sixth stitcher! How fun! I started stitching it last night while I introduced Eric to the Harry Potter movies, we watched the first movie and he enjoyed it. If you'd like the freebie, or a look at the some of the other's stitchers' pieces, here's the link.

Eric and I have had a busy day today sorting and going through files, cleaning out cabinets, all that good stuff. We even took a bunch of old DVDs to sell and made $87! Tonight we'll be sitting down to watch another movie, maybe the second Harry Potter, and I'll go back to working on my RR.

I am grateful for organization!

Nothing to Show

I have no stitching to show you today, but since I've been so inconsistent with blogging lately, I thought I'd go ahead and post. I've been stitching quite a bit, even if I have nothing to show. I was so thankful to have a holiday yesterday. Eric and I spent the majority of the day watching Season 1 of Dark Angel and I stitched all day on my Neighborhood RR. I am making good progress on it, and should have my block finished by the end of the week. I'll post a photo when I'm all done with it. I've also been stitching quite a bit on Tesori. I finished all the border for the first region, and have most of the block filled in. Once I'm finished with the Veneto block, I'll post a photo. It just seems like for such small-ish pieces, there's no need for me to post progress photos. But, soon - I promise! I am going this evening to pick up my mat for our maps, so that I can finally get that framed - hopefully the mat is right this time. I also hope to get Lemon Meringue Sampler framed and hung this weekend. It's such a shame to have all the pieces, but not have it framed and hung up!

We did go see fireworks last night. Luckily the rain held off long enough that we were able to enjoy the display! It has been raining and raining and raining here. There are a lot of places in Texas that are having severe flooding issues, etc. Eric's parents live on some water here, and the water level has risen so much it has completely submerged the posts and cable at the bottom of their property. Their neighbors across the water have their entire wrought iron fence submerged. It's crazy. I am so thankful we are getting lots of rain because every year we have such a problem with draught, etc. It is even relatively cool outside in the evenings, which is heavenly! But, back to fireworks... I took my knitting with me and restarted my Homespun Wrap, and made a bit of progress on it before the fireworks started and I lost my light. Eric got some great photos too, so if may post one as soon as he has a chance to really look at them.

I am back at work today, but it is nice only having two days left to work this week. The photo above is of the new Passione Ricamo design, Galatea. Love her!! I have really been wanting to indulge in some PR charts lately...they are all so beautiful. I did purchase The Night, but I am also wanting to stitch Dawn (Carol's is coming along beautifully!), Queen of the Fairies, Lady of the Snow, Enchanted Fairy and of course Galatea!! They are just all so beautiful. And frankly, I am not that into fairies, but these just have something about them that draw me in. I'm off to update my wish list!

Thanks for stopping by. As always, I appreciate it! I promise I'll have photos soon!

I am grateful for a day of stitching.

Halfway

Wisemen Came

Shepherd's Bush

Fourth in the 2000 Years Ago series from JCS Ornament Issues

Weeks and GAST on 32ct. Dark Espresso R&R Linen

Embellished with Sterling Jar Charm

Finished 6/29/07

Friday I finished stitching another Shepherd's Bush ornament from the 2000 Years Ago series. These were from the JCS Ornament issues, although the first four were later released as a chart, which is how I came by them. My understanding is that there will be eight total, with the one in this year's issue being the last one. So, with finishing this one, I am halfway there! Last year, my big Christmas project was our stockings. This year, I intend to finish up these SB ornaments and make them into a wall hanging of some sort. I just love this one - it may be my favorite so far.

Can you believe we are halfway through the year?! I have completed 18 stitching finishes this year, plus one scarf, and two quilt tops. I've also read 12 books, so far this year - which I think is great. I had missed reading, and didn't do much of it, it seems, last year. The rest of the year will probably bring a big push to finish some of my WIPs. I'd really like to whittle down my WIP list A LOT. As soon as I get my Neighborhood RR out the door, I should have a little time to devote to something else before the next one comes in.

My June goals were:

Stitch on Their Song Yes!

Stitch on Mystery Sampler Yes!

Finish Kimono Quilt Top Yes!

Stitch & Grid Neighborhood RR; Ready to Mail Gridded, began stitching, not ready to mail

Start Tesori Yes!

I think I did really well in June, but I think for July I will up the ante a little bit, and make my goals a little more of a stretch. Let's see...


Knit on Homespun Wrap

Finish Their Song
Finish Row 1 of Tesori

Stitch one WhimZi

Stitch one SB ornament

Stitch on Barnabee's Quest

Wish me luck!!





The postman brought me a goodie in the mail last week...I received Just Nan's Queen's Bluebird Box. I just got the chart and the finishing pack. I have no idea when I will get to this one, so I didn't order the fabric or the silks.





And, I went to my LNS on Saturday to pick up a couple of finishing items (which they didn't have), and I ended up with a couple a charts. I bought Birds of a Feather's Red Reindeer Sampler, which I fell in love with after seeing Karen V.'s. I also bought that Country Cottage Ice Cream Sampler, which I had my eye on last week. I picked up the mat for my Lemon Meringue Sampler late last week, and I have the perfect frame for it, so as soon as I can get it assembled and framed, I promise to show a photo. I also picked up a mat I had cut for a couple of maps that we bought on our Bahamas cruise (where Eric proposed), unfortunately, they cut the mat wrong, so it has to be redone. Oh well, the maps will look so good when they are finally framed!


Thank you all so much for your compliments on the Kimonos - I am so enjoying looking at them in the dining room. I just have the quilt top pinned up on the wall for now, so that I can see them.

I am grateful for seeing progress in my measurements - lots of inches lost!